Heartland Reggae

Like the title says, it doesn't get any better than this. You're likely to fall in love with this film; whether you're new to reggae and want to discover some great new artists, or if you just want to learn more about reggae culture and the story behind its creation, or even if you're already a reggae veteran. This film is not to be missed!

1978 was a very interesting and unique time in Jamaican history. Many cultural, social, and political changes were in the air at that time. "Heartland Reggae" captures the feeling of that time perfectly, and the audience some short (but great) history lessons to boot. Although most of the film is made up of performances that were filmed during the Peace Concert and two other concerts which all took place around the same time and place.

"Heartland Reggae" is not like a concert movie where you just have a bunch of live performances on film back-to-back. Instead, there's an excellent mix of historic story-telling via the narrator that's paired with footage of Jamaicans--particularly Rastas--going about their everyday lives, and some nice views of the countryside.

Personally I'm very biased in favor of this film, because I saw it as a 14-year-old boy and it captivated my imagination. I wasn't just interested in reggae and ganja, I wanted to learn more about who the Rastas were and where reggae came from. I also wanted to discover new reggae artists, because at the time I was listening to Bob Marley's "Legend" album, which is of course the furthest thing from roots reggae that Bob ever did. I bought this on DVD the year it came out (2004) and I was totally blown away by it; I must've watched every day for a month! This film taught me a lot about reggae and Jamaican roots. It gave me a great start for finding other bands and artists; this film introduced me to Jacob Miller and Peter Tosh, who are two of my heroes now.

The only thing I could say that's even slightly negative about "Heartland Reggae" is that it left me wanting more. I really wished they did some interviews with the artists, especially considering that more than 90% of the musicians featured in this film are now deceased and most never gave interviews. However hindsight is 20/20, therefore I can't say anything bad about "Heartland Reggae". If you love reggae, go watch this film today!!!

How in the name of all that is good could anyone make a bad documentary if it's about musical geniuses like Bob Marley, Jacob Miller, and Peter Tosh and their music? Ask the creators of Heartland Reggae. Heartland Reggae is a potentially incredible documentary featuring amazing performances by Bob Marley, Inner Circle, Jody Mowatt, Peter Tosh and other stars of the reggae scene during the late 70s and early 80s. It was an era when the music was incredible and the political significance of it was immense. The problem with the film is that the editing, narrating, and other production aspects are horrible. A great story with great footage and great music falls flat. The actual performances are edited in a way that cuts out the best part and drags out too long on the bad parts. The scenes that are edited in are silly and make no sense. The narrator has a heavy and hard to understand accent that make his ranting absolutely useless and flat out annoying! If you like good music...check Heartland Reggae out. If you like good films...pass it.

One of the best films about Reggae music from the time, this film captures some of the best live reggae footage ever captured of some of the early Roots Reggae artists of Jamaica, in particular we get to see an amazing performance from U-Roy which is the only live concert footage of him available from the time. The film is part concert. Part documentary but it's edited in a a way so that it mixes in interesting and beautiful footage of the Jamaican countryside in with the music performances. Features artists like U-Roy, Judy Mowatt, Jacob Miller, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Junior Tucker. This is a classic film and one of the only films of it's kind. If you like Reggae you'll love this, Don't miss it.......